This forward module validation test is fun to see.... Our four fins on New Glenn are about the size of a car—roughly 16 feet long at the base and sticking out 6.5 feet from the body of the rocket. They’re responsible for steering the rocket on ascent and descent. Most of the structure is aluminum, which is protected from reentry heating by a durable fabric thermal protection system we invented and refer to internally as ‘Comet.’ The aerodynamic forces pushing on the fin during flight are roughly equal to the weight of a 737 aircraft. #newglenn Blue Originshow more

Another one in the books - the New Glenn... team just finished NG-2's aft module activation test. This test activates the hydrogen peroxide system that powers the aft module hydraulics and conducts a shortened mission simulation of the integrated system. The four auxiliary power units, or APUs, produce a combined peak of 1,000 horsepower to drive the hydraulic pumps, roughly equivalent to the power of a modern F1 car. Next, we will mate the aft module to the rest of GS1 and install our seven BE-4 engines.show more

During the first attempt tonight at a static fire... test of its New Glenn rocket, Blue Origin activated the water deluge system and there appeared to be a brief ignition, but then the attempt halted. Blue Origin appears to be recycling for another attempt tonight. Watch live:show more

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is finally on the... pad and ready for its highly anticipated maiden flight. This marks a monumental moment for the space industry as Blue Origin takes a leap into orbital spaceflight. From the innovative Blue Ring payload to booster recovery on Jacklyn, we dive into everything you need to know about this historic launch. Plus, a detailed look at New Glenn’s BE-4 engines, giant fairings, and future missions, including Blue Moon and Project Kuiper. Will this launch set the tone for Blue Origin’s reusable rocket ambitions? Join us as we unpack the details! Full video in reply.show more

A Southwest Airlines flight from Burbank, California, safely landed... in Las Vegas after performing an emergency maneuver to avoid colliding with another aircraft on Friday. Minutes after Southwest flight 1496 took off from Burbank, it rapidly descended 475 feet to avoid hitting another plane — dropping from 14,100 feet to 13,625 feet, according to flight tracking data and passenger accounts. The other aircraft was identified as a Hawk Hunter with the N-number "N335AX," which was at approximately 14,653 feet when the Southwest flight had to make its emergency descent. Southwest airlines said in a statement, "The Crew of Southwest Flight 1496 responded to two onboard traffic alerts Friday afternoon while climbing out of Burbank, Cal., requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts. The flight continued to Las Vegas, where it landed uneventfully. Southwest is engaged with the Federal Aviation Administration to further understand the circumstances. No injuries were immediately reported by Customers, but two Flight Attendants are being treated for injuries. We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and Flight Attendants in responding to this event. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees."show more

The secret is out ....THIS IS THE BEST FLIGHT... SYSTEM on the planet !!! I'm giving away 8 sets for you to test for yourself. Answer this question and stand a chance to WIN!! Retweet with the answer. What's the name of the new condor flight system? CONDORshow more

Many people online speculate that the drones spotted in... New Jersey might be the PteroDynamics Transwing X-P4. This drone transitions between two configurations: a quadcopter mode (7 feet by 4 feet) for vertical takeoff and landing and a fixed-wing airplane mode (7 feet by 13 feet) for efficient flight. PteroDynamics has contracts with the U.S. Navy, which tests drones at the Naval Air Station at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. The company has also carried out test flights from the flight deck of the USNS Burlington, which is currently stationed in New Jersey. This capability might explain the drone sightings reported from the sea. These sightings are likely tied to classified U.S. Navy drone testing, which explains the federal government’s silence on the matter. If these drones are not the PteroDynamics X-P4, they are likely similar unmanned aerial systems being evaluated by the U.S. military. That's the most logical explanation for why the federal government is allowing these operations to happen. At this point, it appears to be as much an experiment in psychological operations as it is a test of drone technology.show more

⚡️⭕️Yair Altman: Haifa update on the fall of a... 450 kg rocket: There is a fear of trapped people whose condition is unclear. The forces are having difficulty securing the scene due to the conditions and the fire that is active in the area. Part of the 5-story building collapsed. Lahav 433 unit and Home Front Command forces are on the sceneshow more

Still on the cargo 737 that vanished yesterday over... the Arabian Sea. As pointed here by a former 737 Captain, "During an emergency descent, with speedbrakes deployed and at maximum speed (VMO), the rate of descent rarely exceeds 8,000 feet per minute (...) the K2 aircraft reportedly reached more than 22,000 feet per minute—an absurd figure"show more

Update on LAT Aerospace Our first uSTOL technology demonstrator... is ready. Today, we have a fully-electric, fixed-wing UAV, built from scratch and almost ready for flight. To make this possible in just a few months, we built our entire flight lab from scratch. Every bench, every tool, every fixture designed to push the aircraft closer to flight every single day. This aircraft is designed to takeoff in 40 meters (thanks to a massive CL of 5 which is more than 2x of what you see on most aircraft). Endurance of 60 minutes. With a range of being able to cruise autonomously from Mumbai to Pune. Ground rolls done. As I type this, we are pushing hard to get the bird in the air. Hopefully it doesn't blow up. Either way, I promise videos of our attempt sometime over the next few weeks. We have learnt so much over the last few months, and I am sure that there are a lot of hard learnings yet in store for us. Our research on hybrid-electric propulsion is already in full swing, and we’ve also started building a team to begin development on our own gas turbine engines. This is one of the hardest engineering challenges possible. Our team is relentlessly at it to make this a reality before the turn of this decade. To read more about LAT Aerospace, please visit -- PS: LAT is not a part of Eternalshow more

Our Blue Ghost Mission 2 milestones are stacking up...... 22 feet to be exact! The team completed structure qualification testing at NASA JPL on our fully stacked Blue Ghost lander and Elytra Dark orbiter model. After a series of vibration and acoustic tests, this milestone helps prove our spacecraft are equipped to withstand the intense environments they’ll experience during launch and in transit to the Moon. Congrats to the team and thanks JPL for the hospitality at y'alls historic test facility. More on the mission here:show more

Wow, this is crazy! Rivers form on the surface,... then plunge through vesicles deep into the glacier. After kilometres of under-ice travel and intense pressure, they can sometimes erupt as giant fountains. This one is about 20 feet high and flows roughly 200 feet down to the base and terminal moraine below.show more

A giant canyon on the Sun On July 15,... a powerful flare occurred on the surface of the Sun, which briefly changed its structure and caused the release of hot plasma into space. As a result of this event, a plasma "scar" about 400,000 kilometers long appeared. This is approximately the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The height of the structure reaches 20,000 kilometers. All this was recorded with high accuracy by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).show more

Roughly 20 seconds after the liftoff of ULA's Vulcan... rocket on the USSF-87 mission, there appeared to be a possible burn through of at least one of the solid rocket booster nozzles. We've reached out to ULA for comment. Video shot by Adam Bernstein for Spaceflight Now Watch:show more

A car was partially swallowed by a sinkhole that... suddenly opened on one of New York’s busiest highways. The incident happened Thursday on the Long Island Expressway in Suffolk County during rush hour traffic. Police said the sinkhole measured roughly 10 feet wide and forced the closure of two westbound lanes near Exit 49N while crews worked to stabilize the area.show more

Today, we’re pulling back more of the curtain on... the in-house teams and technology that will bring the Ford Universal Electric Vehicle to life. More than half of our aero team came from the Formula 1 world, where air is either your greatest ally or most punishing enemy - and every curve matters. From the sculpted roofline to the underbody, our teams are chasing physics in search of longer range and lower cost for our customers. Our new mid-size electric truck’s aerodynamic efficiency is more than 15% better than any other pickup truck on the market today. “To the air, it’s no longer a truck”. From a zonal architecture and 48V low-voltage system, to the new in-house E-Box, and smaller and lighter wire harnesses, the team is obsessing over every detail with UEV. Our aim is to have a family of vehicles that we expect to compete on price with the best in the world, including gas vehicles. And they will be FUN to drive!show more

The big takeaway on this pick is the tag... & the positioning of the first baseman. Partially as a result of instant replay, 1st basemen are positioned in front of the base & up the line closer to 2B. Most tags are made away from the base on the runner’s midline before they get toshow more

All Nippon Airways/ANA Wings De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400... collides with a boarding bridge after landing at Fukushima Airport. According to All Nippon Airways, just before 9 a.m. on the 2nd, the wing of a passenger plane arriving at Fukushima Airport from Osaka Airport came into contact with the boarding bridge connecting the aircraft and the terminal building just before stopping. Twenty-four passengers and four crew members were not injured, but a total of three flights were canceled on the 2nd: a flight from Fukushima Airport to New Chitose Airport, a flight from New Chitose Airport to Akita Airport, and a flight from Akita Airport to Osaka Airport. ANA is checking the aircraft and investigating the cause of the contact.show more

Equilux meaning equal light is the day when daylight... and darkness are closest to being exactly 12 hours each This year, the Vernal Equilux occurs on the 17th March for UK locations roughly south of Norwich, and on the 18th March for locations generally north of Norwich.show more